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Sinopec Profit Rises as Refining Margins Improve

Chinese Government Made Changes to Fuel Pricing Last Year

By

Yvonne Lee

Aug. 22, 2014 10:16 a.m. ET

HONG KONG—China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., or Sinopec, reported that its first-half net profit rose 8% from the year before on improved refining margins after Beijing introduced changes to fuel pricing last year.

The company, Asia's largest refiner in terms of capacity, said Friday that its net profit for the six months ended June 30 rose to 32.5 billion yuan ($5.28 billion) from CNY30.3 billion a year earlier. The result was above the consensus estimate of CNY30.1 billion, according to S&P Capital IQ.